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Luke 1:73 — Word Study

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N1904ὅρκον ὃν ὤμοσεν πρὸς Ἀβραὰμ τὸν πατέρα ἡμῶν,

BSA[the] oathhorkos [a sacred promise, sworn vow] thathos, hē He sworeomnumi [pledged, made a vow] topros AbrahamAbraam theho fatherpatēr [ancestral patriarch] of us,

Word
Listen & take awayLuke 1
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 73 is in this chapter.
Greek ↓ Download MP3 Nestle 1904 — the very text on this page — read by Andy Martin in Erasmian pronunciation.
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Luke 1:73quick helps
In a sentenceZechariah speaks of God's promise to Abraham, emphasizing the faithfulness of God's oath.
Who is speakingZechariah, the father of John the Baptist, is proclaiming this promise.
Where we areThis verse is part of Zechariah's song of praise after the birth of his son.
The hard wordὅρκον
Take awayGod's promises are guaranteed by His solemn oaths.
7 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause verbὀμνύω The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

Every word here is used elsewhere in the New Testament.

Bars are logarithmic — , the commonest word in the Greek New Testament, stands 19,867 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.

Deep Study — Luke 1:73

Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.

Context — Zechariah's Prophecygenerated

72to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,
73the oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
74deliverance from hostile hands, that we may serve Him without fear,
75in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.

Luke 1:73 is part of Zechariah's prophecy, where he praises God for fulfilling His promises. He recalls the covenant made with Abraham, highlighting God's unwavering commitment to His people. This verse connects the Old Testament promises to the New Testament realities, showing how God's faithfulness spans generations.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Genesis 22:16–17saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son,
2Genesis 24:7The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me from my father’s house and my native land, who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—He will send His angel before you so that you can take a wife for my son from there.
3Genesis 26:3Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.
4Deuteronomy 7:8–12But because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
5Psalm 105:9the covenant He made with Abraham, and the oath He swore to Isaac.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 7 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word ὅρκον, horkosgenerated

The word ὅρκος (i.e., horkos) translates to 'oath' and is a noun in the accusative case. It signifies a solemn promise or vow, often invoking a divine witness. In biblical contexts, oaths are serious commitments, as seen in various passages, including Acts 2:30.

This noun appears frequently in the New Testament, reflecting the importance of oaths in establishing trust and certainty in God's promises. The parsing indicates it is singular and masculine, emphasizing its specific nature as a promise made by God.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

In the Berean Standard Bible, the phrase reads 'the oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us.' The KJV and ASV render it similarly, emphasizing the solemnity of the oath.

However, the Young's Literal Translation uses 'An oath that He sware to Abraham our father,' which shifts the focus slightly by placing 'oath' at the beginning. The WEB and BBE also align closely with the BSB, maintaining the essential meaning across translations.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb in this verse is ὤμοσεν, He swore, which connects to the noun phrase ὅρκον the oath. This structure highlights the action of swearing as central to the promise made to Abraham.

The phrase πρὸς Ἀβραὰμ to Abraham serves as a prepositional phrase indicating the recipient of the oath, while the infinitive phrase δοῦναι ἡμῖν to grant us describes the purpose of the oath.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

ὅρκος corresponds to the Hebrew word שְׁבוּעָה (sh'vuah), meaning 'oath' or 'sworn promise.' This connection emphasizes the continuity of God's promises from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

In the Septuagint, the concept of an oath is crucial, as it signifies God's binding commitments to His people, particularly in relation to the patriarchs.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Luke 1:73 speaks of the oath that God swore to Abraham, highlighting His promise to grant blessings to His people. This reflects God's faithfulness in keeping His covenant, which is foundational to the faith of Israel.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does the oath to Abraham signify?

The oath signifies God's commitment to fulfill His promises to Abraham and his descendants, ensuring blessings and a covenant relationship.

Why is the mention of Abraham important?

Abraham is a key figure in the biblical narrative, representing faith and the beginnings of God's covenant people, making his mention significant in the context of God's promises.

How does this verse connect to the overall message of Luke?

This verse connects to Luke's theme of God's faithfulness and the fulfillment of His promises through Jesus, showing continuity from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

What role do oaths play in biblical texts?

Oaths in the Bible serve to establish trust and convey the seriousness of promises, often invoking God's name as a witness to the commitment.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. How can I trust in God's promises as Zechariah did?
  2. In what ways do I see God's faithfulness in my own life?
  3. How does understanding the significance of Abraham deepen my faith?
  4. What commitments have I made that reflect my trust in God's promises?

The early church on this verse — how the Fathers read it

The early Church Fathers reflect on this verse to discuss the nature of God's promises and the implications for believers.

Origen of AlexandriaCatena Aurea by Aquinas c. 185–253
I think that at the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, both Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were partakers of His mercy.
Early Church Fathers on Luke 1 →
Cyril of AlexandriaCommentary on the Gospel of Luke c. 376–444
But let no one accustom himself to swear from hearing that God sware unto Abraham. For just as anger, when spoken of God, is not anger, nor implies passion, but signifies power exercised in punishment, or some similar motion;
Early Church Fathers on Luke 1 →

Commentators on this verse — 7 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Luke 1:73 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The oath which he swore to our father Abraham. When he swore by himself, because he could swear by no greater, that in blessing he would bless him; that his seed should possess the gates of his

Read John Gill on Luke 1 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, The oath which he sware to our father Abraham.

Read Robert Jamieson on Luke 1 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

God first gave Abraham his word, , then he confirmed it by his oath, . The apostle, to the Hebrews, saith, , When God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself.

Read Matthew Poole on Luke 1 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, Ver. 73. The oath which he sware] ορκος quasi ερκος, a hedge, which a man may not break; much less will God.

Read John Trapp on Luke 1 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(73) The oath.—The noun is in apposition to the “covenant” of the preceding verse, though not grammatically in the same case with it.

Read Charles John Ellicott on Luke 1 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

73. The oath which he sware] Genesis 12:3; Genesis 17:4; Genesis 22:16-17; comp. Hebrews 7:13-14; Hebrews 7:17.

Read Cambridge on Luke 1 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The oath - This oath is recorded in Genesis 22:16-17. It was an oath in which God swore by himself (because he could swear by no greater, Hebrews 6:13-14) that he would surely bless Abraham and his posterity.

Read Albert Barnes on Luke 1 →

The verse in English, compared — 16 translations, and where they part company

Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.

Modern formal

BSBBerean Standard Bible2020

the oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

WEBWorld English Bible2000

the oath which he swore to Abraham our father,

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

the oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

NETBNew English Translation2006

the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham. This oath grants

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

The oath which he sware unto Abraham our father,

RVARevised Version, American1894

The oath which he sware unto Abraham our father,

NWBWebster's Bible1833

The oath which he swore to our father Abraham,

GNVGeneva Bible1599

And the othe which he sware to our father Abraham.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

[the] oath which he swore to Abraham our father,

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

An oath that He sware to Abraham our father,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

An oath that He swore to Abraham our father,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

the oath that he spoke to Abraham our father.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father, that he would grant to us,

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

the promise that he made to our father Abraham.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

The oath which he made to Abraham, our father,

Word by word, the decisions they made

ὅρκονhorkos [the] oath G3727 2 different renderings
oathASV BBE BSB DBY DRA KJV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB
an oathLSV YLT

Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.


The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the Nestle 1904 treebank

This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.

clauseΚαὶAndclauseclausenoun phrase · subjectΖαχαρίαςZechariahnoun phrasethenoun phraseπατὴρfatherαὐτοῦof himverbἐπλήσθηwas fillednoun phrase · adverbialΠνεύματοςwith [the] SpiritἉγίουHolyκαὶandclauseverbἐπροφήτευσενprophesiedclause · adverbialclauseverbλέγωνsayingclausepredicateΕὐλογητὸςBlessed benoun phrase · subjectΚύριος[the] Lordnoun phrasethenoun phraseΘεὸςGodnoun phraseτοῦ-Ἰσραήλof IsraelclauseὅτιbecauseclauseclauseverbἐπεσκέψατοHe has visitedκαὶandclauseverbἐποίησενhas performedobjectλύτρωσινredemptionnoun phrase · indirect objectτῷ[on] thenoun phraseλαῷpeopleαὐτοῦof Himκαὶandclauseverbἤγειρενhas raised upnoun phrase · objectκέραςa hornσωτηρίαςof salvationindirect objectἡμῖνfor usprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinnoun phraseοἴκῳ[the] housenoun phraseΔαυεὶδof Davidnoun phraseπαιδὸςof [the] servantαὐτοῦof HimclauseκαθὼςasclauseverbἐλάλησενHe spokeprepositional phrase · adverbialδιὰbynoun phraseστόματος[the] mouthnoun phraseτῶνof thenoun phraseἁγίωνholynoun phraseprepositional phraseἀπ’ofαἰῶνοςoldnoun phraseπροφητῶνprophetsαὐτοῦof Himclauseobjectσωτηρίανsalvationprepositional phrase · adverbialprepositional phraseἐξfromnoun phraseἐχθρῶν[the] enemiesἡμῶνof usκαὶandprepositional phraseἐκfromnoun phraseχειρὸς[the] handnoun phraseπάντωνof allnoun phraseτῶνthoseclauseverbμισούντωνhatingobjectἡμᾶςusclause · adverbialclauseverbποιῆσαιto fulfillobjectἔλεοςmercyprepositional phrase · adverbialμετὰtowardnoun phraseτῶνthenoun phraseπατέρωνfathersἡμῶνof usκαὶandclauseverbμνησθῆναιto remembernoun phrase · objectnoun phrasenoun phraseδιαθήκης[the] covenantἁγίαςholyαὐτοῦof Himnoun phraseὅρκον[the] oathclauseobjectὃνthatverbὤμοσενHe sworeprepositional phrase · adverbialπρὸςtonoun phraseἈβραὰμAbrahamnoun phraseτὸνthenoun phraseπατέραfatherἡμῶνof usnoun phrase · adverbialτοῦ-clauseverbδοῦναιto grantindirect objectἡμῖνusclause · adverbialprepositional phrase · adverbialἐκfromnoun phraseχειρὸς[the] handἐχθρῶνof our enemiesverbῥυσθένταςhaving been savedclause · objectadverbialἀφόβωςwithout fearverbλατρεύεινto serveobjectαὐτῷHimprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinnoun phraseὁσιότητιholinessκαὶandδικαιοσύνῃrighteousnessprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνώπιονbeforeαὐτοῦHimnoun phrase · adverbialπάσαιςallnoun phraseταῖςthenoun phraseἡμέραιςdaysἡμῶνof our life

Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.


The earliest translations — Latin and Syriac

Every translation is an argument about meaning made by someone who had to commit to one. These two were made while the Greek was still a living language, and they are the oldest opinions we have about what this verse says.

Latin VulgateAD 382–405

jusjurandum, quod juravit ad Abraham patrem nostrum,/ daturum se nobis/

Jerome revised the Old Latin against the Greek from AD 382; the Latin west read this text for a thousand years.

Syriac Peshittaby AD 400

ܘܡܘܡܬܐ ܕܝܡܐ ܠܐܒܪܗܡ ܐܒܘܢ ܕܢܬܠ ܠܢ

The Bible of the Syriac-speaking church, in the language nearest to the Aramaic Jesus spoke.

Shown verse by verse rather than word by word: aligning a Greek word to its Latin or Syriac counterpart automatically would be guesswork, and a wrong alignment is worse than none.


The Greek editions compared — what the manuscripts actually say

Eight printed editions of the Greek New Testament, side by side. Where they agree the wording is settled; where a word is missing from an edition it is marked, so you can see the difference rather than take it on trust.

Nestle-Aland 28th edition2012 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

ὅρκον ὃν ὤμοσεν πρὸς Ἀβραὰμ τὸν πατέρα ἡμῶν,

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

ὅρκον ὃν ὤμοσεν πρὸς Ἀβραὰμ τὸν πατέρα ἡμῶν,

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

ὅρκον ὃν ὤμοσεν πρὸς Ἀβραὰμ τὸν πατέρα ἡμῶν,

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

ὅρκον ὃν ὤμοσεν πρὸς Ἀβραὰμ τὸν πατέρα ἡμῶν,

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

ὅρκον ὃν ὤμοσεν πρὸς Ἀβραὰμ τὸν πατέρα ἡμῶν,

An independent critical text built from the oldest witnesses then known.

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

ὅρκον ὃν ὤμοσεν πρὸς Ἀβραὰμ τὸν πατέρα ἡμῶν,

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

ὅρκον ὃν ὤμοσεν πρὸς Ἀβραὰμ τὸν πατέρα ἡμῶν,

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

ὅρκον ὃν ὤμοσεν πρὸς Ἀβραὰμ τὸν πατέρα ἡμῶν,

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

Every witness on this verse all agree
Critical editions
Nestle-Aland 28th edition2012Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993SBL Greek New Testament2010Westcott–Hort1881Tregelles1857–1879Tyndale House Greek NT2017
Byzantine / Majority
Byzantine majority text2018
Received Text
Textus Receptus1550/1894

A witness that read differently would show its variant word here, marked.

Word by word, across the editions

Every edition agrees. All 8 printed editions — Nestle-Aland 28, Nestle-Aland 27, SBLGNT, Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Tyndale House 2017, Textus Receptus (KJV), Byzantine majority — carry every word of this verse, in the same order, with no difference that any translator would render differently.


The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with

This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Greek New Testament — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.

Luke 1:73ὅρκος[the] oath[the] oathὅρκοςὅςthatthatὅςὀμνύωHe sworeHe sworeὀμνύωπρόςtotoπρόςἈβραάμAbrahamAbrahamἈβραάμthetheπατήρfatherfatherπατήρἡμῶν,of us,of us,ἡμῶν,ὅριονn.n. distrn.n. districts,ὅριονArticle thArticle theοὗAdv where,Adv where, whitοὗπρόPrep. befoPrep. beforeπρόὀμνύωv. I swearv. I swear, takὀμνύωβασιλεύςn.m. a kinn.m. a king, ruβασιλεύςἄνDisj.prt. Disj.prt. an unἄνἄχριAdv as farAdv as far as, ἄχριθυσιαστήριονn.n. an aln.n. an altarθυσιαστήριονναόςn.m. a temn.m. a temple, ναόςἀλλήλωνRecip.pr. Recip.pr. one aἀλλήλωνἐπιστρέφωv. I turn v. I turn back ἐπιστρέφωἸσαάκProp.n. IsProp.n. IsaacἸσαάκσπέρμαn.n. seed,n.n. seed, offsσπέρματιμάωv. I valuev. I value at aτιμάωἈβραάμProp.n. AbProp.n. AbrahamἈβραάμ
meets it a little oftener than chancemeets it far oftener than chancebuilt from the same roottwo words of the verse share ita word of this versea related word

Lexicons — every word in Luke 1:73

One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Greek lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.

Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. Imported from the CrossWire SWORD modules — Abbott-Smith, the full Liddell-Scott-Jones, Strong's, Dodson, the Intermediate LSJ, Robinson and Packard on the Greek, Webster and Cawdrey on the English the translators were using. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.

[the] oath that He swore to Abraham the father of us,
ὅρκονhorkos [the] oath G3727 Noun · accusative · singular · masculine
10× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
An oath is a sacred promise, like the one Herod made to Salome in Matthew 14:7. In the Bible, oaths are often used to guarantee something, as in Acts 2:30. This concept is key to understanding Jesus' teachings in Matthew 5:33.
Amplified meaning
a sacred promise, sworn vow
Tyndale gloss
oath
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ὅρκος (i.e., horkos) means 'oath' and is derived from the idea of restraint or limit. It appears in various contexts in the New Testament, such as in Matthew and Hebrews, where it refers to solemn promises or vows. The lexicons indicate its use in both classical and biblical texts, emphasizing its significance in swearing and binding agreements.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὅρκος, -ου, ὁ,

[in LXX chiefly for שֶׁבַע, שִׁבְעָה and cogn. forms;]

an oath: Mt 14:7 26:72, Lk 1:73, Ac 2:30, He 6:16, 17, Ja 5:12; p1., Mt 5:33(LXX) 14:9, Mk 6:26.†

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ὅρκος, -ov, 6, (fr. ἔργω, eipyw; i. q. ἕρκος an enclosure, confinement; hence Lat. orcus), [fr. Hom. down], Sept. for y33W, an oath: Mt. xiv. 7,9; xxvi. 72; Mk. vi. 26; Lk. i. 73 [W. 628 (583); B. § 144,13]; Acts ii. 30 [W. 226 (212); 603 (561)]; Heb. vi. 16sq.; Jas. v. 12; by meton. that which has been pledged or promised with an oath; plur. vows, Mt. v. 33 [(cf. Wiinsche ad loe.)].

Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ὅρκος. P Petr III. 56 (d)'* (iii/B.c.) ὥμοσά σοι τὸν πάτριον ὅρκον ἐπὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ, 70. 10419 (B.C. 244-3) κε[χει]ρογραφήκασι τὸν εἰθισμένον ὅρκον τοσούτου μεμισθῶσθαι, ‘they have written under their hands the usual oath that it was let for this amount” (Edd.)—with reference to a farm holding, BGU III. 100215 (p.c. 55) ἐὰν δέ τίς σοι ὅρκος ἢ ἐπίδειξις ἐπιβληθῆι περὶ αὐτῶν, ἐγὼ αὐτὸς ἐπιτελέσωι KTA.—a deed of sale, and P Ryl 11. 8.835 (a.p. 156) ἢ ἔνοχος εἴην τῷ ὅρκ[ῳ, ‘‘otherwise may I be liable to the consequences of the oath”—a common formula. Cf. also formula P Eleph 232° (B.c. 223-2) ε[ὑ]ορκοῦ[ντι] pép plo]e the unusual

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὅρκος (horkos) — oath.

ὅρκος, ὁ,

the object by which one swears, as the Styx among the gods, Στυγὸς ὕδωρ, ὅς τε μέγιστος ὅ. δεινότατός τε πέλει μακάρεσσι θεοῖσι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; or as Zeus among mortals, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so of things, ὅρκον δ᾽ ἐνοσφίσθης μέγαν, ἅλας τε καὶ τράπεζαν [Refs 7th c.BC+]

2. oath, mostly with epithet μέγας, καρτερός, [Refs 8th c.BC+], etc.; θεῶν ὅ. an oath by the gods, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ὅ. πλατύς a firm-based oath, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὅρκον ὀμόσαι swear an oath, ὄμοσέν τε τελεύτησέν τε τὸν ὅ. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ὅ. ἐπιορκῆσαι take a false oath, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ὅρκου προστεθέντος when an oath is added, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; δαίμονι τῷ Πλεισθενιδῶν ὅρκους θεμένη having made a sworn compact with.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of the person demanding the…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὅρκος

horkos

from herkos (a fence; perhaps akin to 3725); a limit, i.e. (sacred)

restraint (specially, an oath):--oath.

see GREEK for 3725

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὅρκος, ου, ὁ

n.m.

an oath

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὅρκος horkos 10x

an oath, Mt. 14:7, 9; 26:72; meton. that which is solemnly promised, a vow, Mt. 5:33

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὅρκος ὅρκος, ὁ, the object by which one swears, the witness of an oath, as the Styx among the gods, Hom., etc.:—hence,

an oath, id. Hom., etc.; ὅρκος θεῶν an oath by the gods, Od.; ὅρκον ὀμόσαι to swear an oath, Hom., etc.; ὅρκον ἐπιορκεῖν to take a false oath, Aeschin.; ὅρκον διδόναι καὶ δέξασθαι to tender an oath to another and accept the tender from him, Hdt., attic; ὅρκον ἀποδιδόναι to take an oath, ἀπολαμβάνειν to tender it, Dem.; so, ὅρκον διδόναι καὶ λαμβάνειν Arist.; ὅρκοις τινὰ καταλαμβάνειν to bind one by oaths, Thuc.; ὅρκῳ ἐμμένειν to abide by it, Eur.; εἶπαι ἐπ᾽ ὅρκου to say on oath, Hdt.

Ὅρκος, personified, son of Ἔρις, a divinity, who punishes the perjured, Hes., etc.

Read the full entry →
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-ASM — Noun · accusative · singular · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-ASM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

oth (shebhu`ah, probably from shebha`, "seven," the sacred number, which occurs frequently in the ritual of an oath; horkos; and the stronger word 'alah, by which a curse is actually invoked upon the oath-breaker Septuagint ara)): In Mt 26:70-74 Peter first denies his Lord simply, then with an oath (shebhu`ah), then invokes a curse ('alah), thus passing through every stage of asseveration.

1. Law Regarding Oaths:

The oath is the invoking of a curse upon one's self if one has not spoken the truth (Mt 26:74), or if one fails to keep a promise (1Sa 19:6; 20:17; 2Sa 15:21; 19:23). It played a very important part, not only in lawsuits (

Oath

A solemn appeal to God, permitted on fitting occasions (Deut. 6:13; Jer. 4:2), in various forms (Gen. 16:5; 2 Sam. 12:5; Ruth 1:17; Hos. 4:15; Rom. 1:9), and taken in different ways (Gen. 14:22; 24:2; 2 Chr. 6:22). God is represented as taking an oath (Heb. 6:16-18), so also Christ (Matt. 26:64), and…

Smith's Bible Dictionary

The principle on which an oath is held to be binding is incidentally laid down in (Hebrews 6:16) viz. as an ultimate appeal to divine authority to ratify an assertion. On the same principle, that oath has always been held most binding which appealed to the highest authority, as regards both individuals and communities. As a consequence of this principle, appeals to God’s name on the one hand, and to heathen deities on the other, are treated in scripture as tests of allegiance. (Exodus 23:13; 34:6; 29:12) etc. So also the sovereign’s name is sometimes used as a form of obligation. (Genesis 42:15; 2 Samuel 11:11; 14:19) Other forms of oath, serious or frivolous, are…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A solemn affirmation accompanied by an appeal to the Supreme Being. God has prohibited all false oaths, and all useless and customary swearing in ordinary discourse; but when the necessity or importance of a matter requires an oath, he allows men to swear by his name, Ex 22:11 Le 5:1. To swear by a false god was an act of idolatry, Jer 5:7 12:16.

Among the Hebrews an oath was administered by the judge, who stood up, and adjured the party who was to be sworn. In this manner our Lord was adjured by Caiaphas, Mt 26:63. Jesus had remained silent under long examination, when the high priest, rising up, knowing he had a sure mode of obtaining an answer said, "I adjure thee by the…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
50%oath
oath50% · 5×oaths30% · 3×an oath20% · 2×

10 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 3 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial60%object30%subject10%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 10 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
διάκύριοςlord, Lord, mastβεβαίωσιςconfirmation, ra
μετά
ὅθενwhence, whereforἀρνέομαιI deny, repudiat
ὅτιthat, since, because
οἶδαI know, remember
μεσιτεύωI mediate, interpose
αὐτός
τὶς
ἄλλοςother, another,
ὅρκος[the] oath10×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article the
σύ
ὁμολογέωI confess, profess,
αὐτός
ὅτιthat, since, because
οὐNeg
ὅς
ὀμνύωI swear, take an

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceὅρκος · 10× in the New Testament
Matthew Hebrews Acts James Luke Mark
Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 24 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.203c. AD 40

εὖ καὶ τὸ ὅρκῳ βεβαιῶσαι τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν καὶ ὅρκῳ θεοπρεπεῖ·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.212c. AD 75–95

καὶ Ἀβιμέλεχος τήν τε γῆν πρὸς αὐτὸν νέμεται καὶ τὰ χρήματα, καὶ συντίθενται ἀδόλως πολιτεύσεσθαι ὑπέρ τινος φρέατος ποιούμενοι τὸν ὅρκον, ὃ Βηρσουβαὶ καλοῦσιν·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.8c. AD 100

ἀλλ̓ ἡ τοῦτο ἐνετειλάμην αὐτοῖς: ἕκαστος ὑμῶν κατὰ τοῦ πλησίον ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ἑαυτοῦ κακίαν μὴ μνησικακείτω, καὶ ὅρκον ψευδῆ μὴ ἀγαπᾶτε.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 2nd c. AD 6th c. AD 2nd c. BC
P.Athen.. 35Theadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 154

ἰδίου τὸν φόρον τῶν αὐτῶν δρυμῶν τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος ἑπτακαιδεκάτου ἔτους, ἢ ἔνοχοι εἴημεν τῷ ὅρκῳ. ἐγράφη διὰ γραφείου Θεαδελφείας.

P.Fay. 24Euhemeria (Arsinoites)AD 158

ἐποικίῳ ὥστε αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν ἀνέρχεσθαι, καὶ μηδὲν διεψεῦσθαι ἢ ἔνοχος εἴην τῷ ὅρκῳ. Πουσεῖμις ἐτῶν λ οὐλὴ ποδὶ ἀριστερῷ. ἐγράφη διὰ Σα … ς νομογράφου ἐπακολουθοῦντος Διοδώρου

P.Col. 8 229ArsinoitesAD 200–AD 211

θέλετέ μοι ἀπαίτησιν ὑπὲρ λόγου ζυγοστασίου. ἐὰν δὲ φανῶ ἔρια πιπράσκων, ἔνοχος εἴην τῷ ὅρκῳ. Νεῖλος υἱὸς … ἐξηγητεύσαντος τῆς Ἀρσινοιτῶν πόλεως ἔγραψα ὑπὲρ τοῦ Διδύμου ὅλον τὸ σῶμα.

[the] oath that He swore to Abraham the father of us,
ὃνhos, hē that G3739 Relative pronoun · accusative · singular · masculine
1,407× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The word which is a pronoun used to ask for or identify something, as seen in John 5:11. It can also be used to describe a person or thing, such as in Mark 15:23. This word helps to clarify or specify what is being talked about.
Tyndale gloss
which
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ὅς is a pronoun meaning 'who,' 'which,' 'what,' or 'that.' It serves as both a demonstrative and a relative pronoun, agreeing in gender with its antecedent. The New Testament uses it in various constructions, including phrases like ὃς μὲν... ὃς δέ to indicate contrasting subjects. Notably, it can express purpose or cause in certain contexts.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὅς, ἥ, ὅ,

the postpositive article (ἄρθρον ὑποτακτικόν).

As demonstr. pron. = οὗτος, ὅδε, this, that, also for αὐτός, chiefly in nom.: ὅς δέ, but he (cf. ἦ δὲ ὅς, freq. in Plat.), Mk 15:23, Jo 5:11; ὃς μὲν . . . ὃς δέ, the one . . . the other, Mt 21:35 22:5 25:15, Lk 23:33, Ac 27:14, Ro 14:5, I Co 11:21, II Co 2:16, Ju 22; neut., ὃ μὲν . . . ὃ δέ, the one . . . the other, some . . . some, Mt 13:8, 23, Read the full entry →

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ὅς 455 ὅς iii. 5 [RG], 6; Heb. vi. 10; ix. 20; Jas. ii. 5; 1 In. iii. 24; Jude 15; for other exx. see below; ἐν ὥρᾳ 7 οὐ γινώoxet, Mt. xxiv. 50; τῇ παραδύσει 9 παρεδώκατε, Mk. vii. 13 ; add, Lk. ii. 20; v. 9; ix. 435 xii. 46; xxiv. 25; Jn. xvii. 5; Acts ii. 22; xvii. 31; xx. 38; 2 Co. xii. 21; 2Th.i. 4; Rev. xviii. 6; ef. W. § 24,1; [B. as above]. Rarely attraction oceurs where the verb governs the dative [but see below]: thus, κατέναντι οὗ ἐπίστευσε θεοῦ for xarévavre θεοῦ, ᾧ ἐπίστευσε (See κατέναντι). Ro. iv. 17; φωνῆς, ἧς ἔκραξα (for 7 (al. ἥν, οἴ. W. 164 (154 sq.) Β. 287 (217)}7), Acts xxiv. 21, οἵ. Is. vi. 4; (7γετο δὲ καὶ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ τε πιστῶν, οἷς ἥδετο καὶ ὧν ἠπίστει πολλούς, for καὶ πολλοὺς τούτων, οἷς ἠπίστει, Xen. Cyr. ὅ, 4, 39; ὧν ἐγὼ ἐντετύχηκα οὐδείς; for οὐδεὶς τούτων, οἷς ἐντετ. Plato, Gorg. p. 509 ἃ.; Protag. p. 361 6.; derep.7 p.531e.; παρ᾽ ὧν βοηθεῖς, οὐδεμίαν λήψει…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ος is found as a demonstrative pronoun in P Ryl II. 14415 (complaint of assault—a.D. 38) ὃς δὲ ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου ἄλογον ἀηδίαν μοι ἐπιχειρήσας παρεχρήσατό μοι πολλὰ καὶ ἄσχημα, ‘“whereupon he opposing me made a brutal and odious attack upon me and subjected me to much shameful mishandling” (Edd.): cf. Mk 15%, Jn 51. For ὃς μέν... ὃς δέ, “the one . . the other,” as in Mt 21° a/., see P Oxy IX. 1189? (c. A.D. 117) ἐπιστολὰς δύο ds ἔγραψα ἣν μὲν σοὶ ἣν δὲ Σαβείνῳ, and for ὃς δέ solétarium see PSI. IV. 313° (iii/iv A.D.) with the editor’s note. Ὃς ἄν (ἐάν) c. conj. = ‘‘ whosoever ” may be illustrated Ly P Par 4622 (B.c. 153) (= Witkowski*, p. 87), περὶ dv ἂν βούληι γράφε, P Grenf I. 30% (B.c. 103) ἐφ} οἷς ἂν οὖν ὑμῶν προσδέωνται, P Oxy IV. 743%% (B.C. 2) ἐν ols ἐὰν σοῦ προσδέηται, °° ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐὰν θέλῃς. For the comparative usage of ὃς ἄν and ὃς ἐάν, see Thackeray Gr. i. p. 68, cited s.v. ἄν.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὅς (hos, hē) — which.

ὅς, ἥ, ὅ,

genitive οὗ, ἧς, οὗ, etc.; dative plural οἷς, αἷς, οἷς, etc.: Epic dialect forms, genitive ὅου (probably replacing Οο) in the phrases ὅου κλέος οὔ ποτ᾽ ὀλεῖται [Refs 8th c.BC+]; feminine ἕης [Refs 8th c.BC+]; elsewhere only ἧς [Refs]; dative plural οἷς, οἷσι, ᾗς, ᾗσι (never αἷς or αἷσι in [Refs 8th c.BC+] — _pronoun_ used,

__A as demonstrative by the side of οὗτος, ὅδε, and the Article ὁ, ἡ, τό: in post-Homeric Gr. this use survived only in a few special phrases.

__B as a Relat. by the side of the Article ὅ, ἥ, τό (see. ὁ, ἡ, τό, c):—this demonstrative and Relat. pronoun must not be confounded with the Possess. ὅς, ἥ, ὅν. (With Gr. Relat. ὅς, ἥ, ὅ cf. Sanskrit Relat. yas, yā, yad, Lithuanian jis, ji (he, she), Oslav. i, ja, je (he, she…

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὅς ἥ ὅ

hos

he hay, and neuter

ho ho

probably a primary word (or perhaps a form of the article 3588); the

relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what,

that:--one, (an-, the) other, some, that, what, which, who(-m, -se),

etc. See also 3757.

see GREEK for 3588

see GREEK for 3757

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὅς, ἥ, ὅ

Rel.pr.

who, which, what, that

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὅς hos 1x

who, which, what, that, Mt. 1:16, 23, 25; in NT interrog. ἐφ’ ὅ, wherefore, why, Mt. 26:50; in NT ὅς μὲν ... ὅς δέ, for ὁ μὲν ... ὁ δέ, Mt. 21:35; 2 Cor. 2:16

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Rel-ASM — Relative pronoun · accusative · singular · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

R-ASM Part of Speech: Relative pronoun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
25%which
which25% · 356×whom20% · 291×who17% · 238×that14% · 199×what8% · 117×whatever2% · 30×whose2% · 29×other renderings10% · 145×other renderings2% · 25×

1,430 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 60 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
object40%subject29%adverbial26%indirect object3%predicate3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,407 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
ἐν
ἡμέραa dayαὐτόςἵναin order that, s
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςἔχωI have, hold, poυἱόςa son, descenden
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakἀπόλλυμιI destroy, lose,δοῦλος (II)
διά
ἐκεῖνοςΧριστόςanointed, the Meαὐτός
εἰς
καίand, even, also,ἐγώοἰκίαa house, househo
ὅςthat1407×
what comes after →
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theμεθερμηνεύωI translate, intκαίand, even, also,
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existἔξεστι(ν)it is permitted,γινώσκωI come to know,
Article the
θεόςGod, a godυἱόςa son, descendenκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
καίand, even, also, nam
σύποιέωI do, makeαὐτός
δέbut, on the other ha
ἄνDisjἑξήκονταIndecτριάκονταIndec

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceὅς · 1,407× in the New Testament
Acts Luke John Matthew Romans Mark Hebrews Revelation 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Colossians Ephesians

22 inflected forms — one of the commonest words in the New Testament. Full distribution →

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 33c. AD 40

ἵν’ οὖν μὴ αἰεὶ συμφερόμεναι στασιάζωσι καὶ πόλεμος ἀντ’ εἰρήνης ἐπικρατῇ τὴν ἀκοσμίαν ἐν κόσμῳ τιθείς, οὐ μόνον ἐχώρισε φῶς καὶ σκότος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅρους ἐν μέσοις ἔθετο διαστήμασιν, οἷς ἀνεῖρξε τῶν ἄκρων ἑκάτερον·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.argc. AD 75–95

πῶς τὸ Σοδομιτῶν ἔθνος θεὸς κατεστρέψατο χολωθεὶς αὐτοῖς ἐφ' οἷς ἡμάρτανον.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.8c. AD 100

Μωϋσῆ Μωϋσῆ, κατάβηθι τὸ τάχος, ὅτι ἠνόμησεν ὁ λαός σου, οὓς ἐξήγαγες ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, καὶ συνῆκεν Μωϋσῆς καὶ ἔριψεν τὰς δύο πλάκας ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ: καὶ συνετρίβη αὐτῶν ἡ διαθήκη, ἵνα ἡ τοῦ ἠγαπημένου Ἰησοῦ ἐγκατασφραγισθῇ εἰς τὴν καρδίαν ἡμῶν…

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. BC 2nd c. BC
P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

θεοῖς. καλῶς ποιήσεις διαλύσας Ἁρκοννῆσιν καὶ Ψενανοῦπιν καὶ … … ελθεῖν ἐπὶ προ … ους καὶ γραψάτωσαν ἡμῖν ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐσπούδασας διὰ τὰς ἡμῶν παρακλήσεις καὶ ση

P.Adl. 15Pathyris (?)101 BC

ἐδάνεισεν Ὧρος Ὥρου Ὥρωι Νεχούτου ὡς ἐτῶν ν μέσος μελίχρως ὑποκλαστὸς ἀναφάλακρος μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν οὖς ἀριστερὸν τετρημένον πυροῦ ἀρτάβας τεσσαράκοντα ἓξ κριθῆς ἑξήκοντα ἐννέα , ἴσους ἀτόκους, ὧν ἀπόδοσιν

P.Adl. 17Krokodilopolis (Pathyrites)100 BC

τῆς ἐπιγονῆς τῶν ἐκ Παθύρεως ὡς ἐτῶν ν μέσος μελίχρως τετανὸς ἀναφάλακρος μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν οὖς ἀριστερὸν τετρημένον χαλκοῦ ταλάντων πέντε . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην

[the] oath that He swore to Abraham the father of us,
ὤμοσενomnumi He swore G3660 Verb · aorist · active · indicative · third person · singular
26× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
rarer in Luke than elsewhere in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To swear means to take or declare an oath, as seen in Matthew 26:74 and Mark 14:71. It involves affirming something by oath, often with a promise or commitment.
Amplified meaning
pledged, made a vow
Tyndale gloss
to swear
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ὀμνύω (i.e., *omnyō*) means to swear or take an oath. It appears in various contexts in the New Testament, including Matthew 26:74 and Hebrews 6:16. The word is built from the root related to swearing and can be used with different grammatical constructions, such as followed by a person or thing sworn by. Notably, some lexicons mention different forms and usages, indicating a rich historical and grammatical background.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὀμνύω

(so Hdt. and some Att. writers) and ὄμνυμι (so generally in Att. prose and always in Trag.; Mk 14:71, -ύναι),

[in LXX chiefly for שׁבע ni.;]

to swear, affirm by oath: Mt 26:74, Mk 14:71, He 7:21; seq. εἰ (q.v.), He 3:11 4:3; c. dat. pers., Mk 6:23; id. c. inf., He 3:18; seq. ὅρκῳ, Ac 2:30; ὀ. ὅρκον πρός, c. acc. pers. (cl.), Lk 1:73; c. acc. (of that by which one swears; cl., v. MM…

Read the full entry →
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ὀμνύω (Mt. xxiii. 30 54. ; xxvi. 74; Heb. vi. 16; Jas. v. 12; [W. 347) and ὄμνυμι (ὀμνύναι, Mk. xiv. 71 GLT Tr WH [ef. B. 45 (39)]) form their tenses fr. OM0Q; hence 1 aor. ὥμοσα; Sept. for paw}; to swear; to affirm, promise, threaten, with an oath: absol., foll. by direct discourse, Mt. xxvi. 74; Mk. xiv. 71; Heb. vii. 21; foll. by εἰ, Heb. iii. 11; iv.3; 5686 εἰν 1.5. ὀμν. ὅρκον (often so in Grk. writ. fr. Hom. down [W. 226 (212) ]) πρός τινα, to one (Hom. Od. 14, 331; 19, 288), Lk. 1. 73; ὀμνύειν with dat. of the person to whom one promises or threatens something with an oath: foll. by direct disc. Mk. vi. 23; by an inf. [W. 331 (311) ], Heb. iii. 18; with ὅρκῳ added, Acts ii. 30 [W. 603 (561)]; τινί τι, Acts vii. 17 [Ree. i.e. gen. by attraction; ef. B.§ 143, 8; W.§ 24,1]. that by which one swears is indicated by an acc., τινά or τί (so in class. Grk. fr. Hom. down [ef. W. § 32, 1b.…

Read the full entry →
Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὄμνυμι (omnumi) — to swear.

ὄμνῡμι,

[Refs 5th c.BC+]; imperative ὄμνῠθι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. singular ὀμνύτω [Refs]; 3rd.pers. plural ὀμνύντων. Foed. cited in [Refs 5th c.BC+]: imperfect ὤμνυν [Refs 5th c.BC+]: also (from present ὀμνύω) 3rd.pers. singular imperative ὀμνῠέτω [Refs 8th c.BC+]; participle ὀμνύουσα [Refs 4th c.BC+]: imperfect ὤμνῠον [Refs 8th c.BC+] (for present indicative the Trag. and [Refs 5th c.BC+] which also occurs in Comedy texts, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: future ὀμοῦμαι, εῖ, εῖται, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Doric dialect 1st pers. plural ὀμιώμεθα [Refs 5th c.BC+]; later future ὀμόσω [Refs 1st c.AD+]: aorist ὤμοσα [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Epic dialect ὤμοσσα [Refs 8th c.BC+]: perfect ὀμώμοκα [Refs 5th c.BC+]: pluperfect ὠμωμόκειν [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—middle, [Refs 2nd c.AD+], aorist participle ὀμοσάμενος [Refs 3rd c.BC+]:—passive, future ὀμοσθήσομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]…

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὀμνύω

omnuo

but obsolete omo, for which

another prolonged form

omoo om-o'-o is used in certain tenses;

to swear, i.e. take (or declare on) oath:--swear.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὀμνύω

v.

I swear, take an oath

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὀμνύω omnyō 26x

to swear, Mt. 5:34; to promise with an oath, Mk. 6:23; Acts 2:30; 7:17

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-AAI-3S — Verb · aorist · active · indicative · third person · singular
aorist active indicative — a completed action, viewed as a whole.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-AAI-3S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Aorist Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: third Number: Singular

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
19%swear
swear19% · 5×he swore15% · 4×having sworn12% · 3×swears12% · 3×i swore8% · 2×may swear8% · 2×shall swear8% · 2×swore4% · 1×other renderings15% · 4×

26 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 12 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb100%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 26 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
ἄνDisj
ὅςδέbut, on the othe
καίand, even, also, nam
καταθεματίζωI curse, devote ἀναθεματίζωI curse, invoke
μήNeg
σύἐγώ
Article the
καίand, even, also,
ὡςas, like as, how, wh
εἶπονI say, speak
ὀμνύωHe swore26×
what comes after →
ἐν
Article theαὐτός
ὅτιthat, since, because
οὐNeg
αὐτός
ὅτιthat, since, becArticle the
ὅλωςwholly, altogether,
μήτεNeg
πρός
ἈβραάμProp

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceὀμνύω · 26× in the New Testament
Matthew Hebrews Mark Acts James Luke Revelation
Across the New Testament7 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 94 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Epistle of Barnabas The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.203c. AD 40

ὁρᾷς γὰρ ὅτι οὐ καθ’ ἑτέρου ὀμνύει θεός, οὐδὲν γὰρ αὐτοῦ κρεῖττον, ἀλλὰ καθ’ ἑαυτοῦ, ὅς ἐστι πάντων ἄριστος.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 3.91c. AD 75–95

ὁ τρίτος δὲ ἐπὶ μηδενὶ φαύλῳ τὸν θεὸν ὀμνύναι·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.8c. AD 100

Ἰδού, τάδε λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός: Εἰσέλθατε εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθήν, ἣν ὤμοσεν κύριος τῷ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ, καὶ κατακληρονομήσατε αὐτήν, γῆν ῥέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD 2nd c. AD 1st c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Grenf. 1 11Arsinoites182 BC

Πατοῦτος Ἑρμοκράτους ἀρχιφυλακίτου προβαλέσθαι μοι τοὺς περὶ τὸν Θοτορταῖον συνλαβόντα γῆν ἀπὸ τῶν ὁρίων ὀμόσαι ἐπὶ τοῦ Κρονείου τὰ ὅρια εἶναι ταύτης τῆς γῆς ἕως τοῦ ιϛ ἔτους ἐπὶ

μηνὸς … … ς ἄλλο δὲ προσγένημα … … … τοῦ προκειμένου πλήθους … Ὀμνύω βασιλέα Πτολεμαῖον … τὸν ἐγ βασιλέως Πτολεμαίου καὶ … … καὶ τοὺς τούτων προγόνους

P.Col. 8 229ArsinoitesAD 200–AD 211

Δίδυμος Λογγίνου, Ἀμάθιτι Σωκμήνεως καὶ Πεκύσει Ἥρωνος καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς πρεσβυτέροις κώμης Φιλαδελφίας· ὀμνύω τὴν τῶν κυρίων Αὐτοκρατόρων Σεουήρου καὶ Ἀντωνίνου καὶ Γέτα τύχην ἐμοῦ μὴ εἶναι τὰ

[the] oath that He swore to Abraham the father of us,
πρὸςpros to G4314 Preposition
700× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Luke than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A preposition showing direction or relationship, like towards or with something, as seen in Mark 5:11 and John 18:16. This means indicating movement or direction. It's about showing proximity or connection.
Tyndale gloss
to/with
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πρός is a preposition that indicates direction, proximity, or relation. It can be used with the genitive to denote motion from a place, with the dative for local proximity, and with the accusative to express motion towards a place or object. In the New Testament, it appears in various contexts, such as Acts 27:34 for benefit and Mark 5:11 for proximity.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πρός,

prep. c. gen., dat., acc.

C. gen., of motion from a place, from the side of, hence metaph., in the interests of, Ac 27:34 (cf. Page, in l.).

C. dat., of local proximity, hard by, near, at: Mk 5:11, Lk 19:37, Jo 18:16 20:11, 12, Re 1:13.

C. acc., of motion or direction towards a place or object, to, towards.

Of place,

after verbs of motion or of speaking and other words with the idea of direction: ἔρχομαι, ἀναβαίνω, πορεύομαι, λέγω, ἐπιστολή, etc., Mt 3:14, Mk 6:51, Lk 11:5, Jo 2:3,

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

πρός, a preposition, i.q. Epic mpori, from πρό and the adverbial suffix τι, (cf. the German vor . . . hin [Curtius § 381]); it is joined I. with the AccusaTIvE, to, towards, Lat. ad, denoting direction towards athing, or position and state looking towards a thing (W. § 49h. p. 404 (378)): it is used 1. of the goal or limit towards which a movement is directed: πρός twa or τι, a. prop. after verbs of going, departing, running, coming, ete.: ἄγω, Jn. xi. 15; ἀναβαίνω, Mk. vi. 51; Jn. xx. 17; Acts xv. 2; ἀνακάμπτω, Mt. ii. 12; Acts xvili. 21; ἀνέρχομαι, Gal. i. 17 [1]. Tr mrg. arépy.]; ἀπέρχομαι, Mt. » xiv. 25 [Rec.]; Mk. iii. 13, etc.; πρὸς ἑαυτόν, to his house, Lk. xxiv. 12 [T om. L Trbr. WH reject the ys.; Tr reads mp. αὐτόν ; some connect the phrase w. θαυμάζων (see 2 Ὁ. below) ]; Jn. xx. 10 [Ὁ Tr αὐτούς, WH air. (cf. s. v. αὑτοῦ sub fin.)]; γίνεσθαι πρός τινα, to come to one, 1 Co.…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

πρός reference to place PSI IV. 31178 (iv/A.D.?) πρ]ὸς τὴν Aavitk.ay τῆς κοίλης Dupials. Headlam (on Herodas VII. 123) holds that τὰ πρὸς τὴν θύραν in Mk 2? ‘‘is surely idiomatic (not vulgar as Moulton thinks) ‘spots which commanded the door’”: cf. Mt 310, Lk 35. For πρός, ‘‘with,” as in Jn ΤΡ, Heb 41%, cf. Epict. iv. 9. 13 πρὸς ὃν οὐδείς ἐστί σου πιθανώτερος (see Sharp Ξε, p. 92). And for the possibility that the difficult πρός in Mk 63, οἷ", 14%, Jn 1}, 1 Jn 1?, is to be explained as an Aramaism, see Rendel Harris Prologue to S. John’s Gospel p. 8f., and Burney Avamaic Origin of the Fourth Gospel p. 28 f. (6) of time = ‘‘for’’ (a time) and no longer—BGU I. 1131? (A.D. 143) βουλόμενος παρεπιδημεῖν πρὸς καιρόν (cf. Lk 818), P Oxy I. 6714 (A.D. 338) πρὸς ὀλίγον εἰσχύει, ‘‘withstands but for a short time” (cf. Jas 4), and P Flor III. 282° (A.D. 520) πρὸς ὅλον χρόνον. (c) of mental…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πρός (pros) — to/with.

πρός,

preposition, expressing direction,

__A on the side of, in the direction of, hence with genitive, dative, and accusative, from, at, to: Epic dialect also προτί and ποτί, in [Refs 8th c.BC+] usually with accusative, more rarely with dative, and each only once with genitive, [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—dialectal forms: Doric dialectποτί (which see) and ποί, but Cretan dialect πορτί [Refs], Argive προτ(ί) [Refs 7th c.BC+] πός [Refs 4th c.BC+]., also sometimes in Asia Minor in compounds, see at {ποσάγω},{ποσφέρω}; Aeolic dialect πρός [Refs 7th c.BC+]; πρές [Refs 6th c.AD+]; Pamphylian περτ (ί) [Refs] (With προτί, πρός cf. Sanskrit práti 'towards, near to, against, back, etc.', Slavonic protiv[ucaron], Lett. pret 'against', Latin pretium: ποτί (which see) and πός are not cognate) [Refs 4th c.BC+] refers to that from which something…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πρός

pros

a strengthened form of 4253; a preposition of direction; forward to,

i.e. toward (with the genitive case, the side of, i.e. pertaining to;

with the dative case, by the side of, i.e. near to; usually with the

accusative case, the place, time, occasion, or respect, which is the

destination of the relation, i.e. whither or for which it is

predicated):--about, according to , against, among, at, because of,

before, between, (where-)by, for, X at thy house, in, for intent, nigh

unto, of, which pertain to, that, to (the end that), X together, to

(you) -ward, unto, with(-in). In the comparative case, it denotes

essentially the same applications, namely, motion towards, accession

to, or nearness at.

see GREEK for 4253

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πρός

Prep.

to, towards, with

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πρός pros 700x

from; met. for the benefit of, Acts 27:34; with a dative, near, by, at, by the side of, in the vicinity of, Mk. 5:11; Lk. 19:37; with an accusative, used of the place to which anything tends, to, unto, towards, Mt. 2:12; 3:5, 13; at, close upon, Mt. 3:10; Mk. 5:22; near to, in the vicinity of, Mk. 6:45; after verbs of speaking, praying, answering to a charge, etc., to, Mt. 3:15; 27:14; of place where, with, in, among, by, at, etc., Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πρός prep. with gen., implying motion from a place; with dat., abiding at a place; with acc., motion to a place

WITH GEN.,

of Place, from, from forth, Hom., Soph.

on the side or quarter of, νήσοισι πρὸς Ἤλιδος islands looking (as it were) from Elis, i. e. towards Elis, Od.; πρὸς τοῦ Ἑλλησπόντου ἵδρυται μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ Στρύμονος lies more towards (i. e. nearer) the Hellespont than the Strymon, Hdt.; ἐστρατοπεδεύοντο πρὸς Ὀλύνθου Thuc., etc.:—often with words denoting the points of the compass, δύω θύραι εἰσίν, αἱ μὲν πρὸς βορέαο, αἱ δ᾽ αὖ πρὸς νότου one looking north wards, the other south wards, Od.; so, οἰκέουσι πρὸς νότου ἀνέμου Hdt., etc.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Prep — Preposition
preposition — its sense depends on the case of the word it governs.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

PREP PREPosition

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
69%to
to69% · 506×with7% · 48×for6% · 42×toward4% · 30×against3% · 21×at3% · 20×unto2% · 18×other renderings5% · 37×other renderings1% · 10×

732 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 32 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial93%predicate5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 700 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
ἔρχομαιI come, go
καίand, even, also,Article theνύξthe night, night
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἸησοῦςJesus
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakArticle theπαραγίνομαιI appear, come,
αὐτός
ἄγωI leadφέρωI carry, bear, bμαθητήςa learner, disci
ἐγώ
ὑπέρσῶμαbody, fleshυἱόςa son, descenden
πρόςto700×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, θεόςGod, a godμαθητήςa learner, disci
αὐτός
Article theλέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,
σύ
καίand, even, also,ἐνἔρχομαιI come, go
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,Article theοὐNeg
ἀλλήλων
τίςIrgλέγωI say, speakμήNeg

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceπρός · 700× in the New Testament
Luke Acts John Mark Matthew 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Hebrews Romans Ephesians 1 Thessalonians Galatians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 3c. AD 40

ἡ δ’ ἀρχή, καθάπερ ἔφην, ἐστὶ θαυμασιωτάτη κοσμοποιίαν περιέχουσα, ὡς καὶ τοῦ κόσμου τῷ νόμῳ καὶ τοῦ νόμου τῷ κόσμῳ συνᾴδοντος καὶ τοῦ νομίμου ἀνδρὸς εὐθὺς ὄντος κοσμοπολίτου πρὸς τὸ βούλημα τῆς φύσεως τὰς πράξεις ἀπευθύνοντος, καθ’ ἣν καὶ ὁ σύμπας…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.4c. AD 75–95

τὸν μὲν γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους πόλεμον ἡμῖν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις γενόμενον καὶ τὰς ἐν αὐτῷ πράξεις καὶ τὸ τέλος οἷον ἀπέβη πείρᾳ μαθὼν ἐβιάσθην ἐκδιηγήσασθαι διὰ τοὺς ἐν τῷ γράφειν λυμαινομένους τὴν ἀλήθειαν,

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.3c. AD 100

τούτων οὖν μενόντων τὰ πρὸς κύριον ἁγνῶς, συνευφραίνονται αὐτοῖς σοφία, σύνεσις, ἐπιστήμη, γνῶσις.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 3rd c. BC 4th c. AD 6th c. AD
P.Grenf. 1 28Krokodilopolis (Pathyrites)109 BC

r … πυρὸν νέον καθαρὸν ἄδολον μέτρωι ὧι καὶ παρείληφεν καὶ ἀποκαθεστάμενον εἰς οἶκον πρὸς αὐτὸν ἰδίοις ἀνηλώμασιν. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀποδῶι ἐν τῶι ὡρισμένωι χρόνωι ἢ μὴ ποιῆ

P.Amh. 2 48Pathyris107 BC

παρεχέτω τὸν οἶνον μόνιμον ἕως Ἁθὺρ λ τοῦ δεκάτου ἔτους, καὶ ἀποκαταστησάτω εἰς οἶκον πρὸς αὐτὴν τοῖς ἰδίοις. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀποδῷ ἐν τῷ ὡρισμένῳ χρόνῳ ἀποτεισάτω ἑκάστου κεραμίου

P.Grenf. 1 30Pathyris104 BC

πᾶσι χαίρειν καὶ ἐρρωμένοις διὰ παντὸς εὐημερεῖν. ὑγιαίνομεν δὲ καὶ αὐτοί. μεταλαβόντες τοὺς συντετελεσμένους πρὸς τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς Ἑρμωνθίτας ἀγῶνας μεγάλως ἐχάρημεν. ἐπεὶ οὖν προκεχειρίκαμεν προστάτην τοῦ μεγίστου θεοῦ Νεχθφαραῦτος

[the] oath that He swore to Abraham the father of us,
ἈβραὰμAbraam Abraham G11 Noun · proper name, indeclinable
73× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Abraham was a Hebrew patriarch, mentioned in Matthew 1:1 and other passages. He is considered the father of the Jewish nation and is an important figure in the Bible. Abraham's story is told in the book of Genesis.
Tyndale gloss
Abraham
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word Ἀβραάμ (i.e., Abraam) is an indeclinable proper noun meaning 'Abraham,' the Hebrew patriarch. It appears in various contexts in the New Testament, notably in Matthew 1:1 and Acts 7:16, where some manuscripts may refer to Jacob instead. The entries consistently identify it as a name of Hebrew origin.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

Ἀβραάμ (Heb. אַבְרָהָם), ὁ, indecl. (in FlJ, Ἄβραμος, -ου; MM, VGT, s.v.),

Abraham (Ge 17:5 al.): Mt 1:1, 2 al.

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

᾿Αβραὰμ ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν, Jn. vill. 56; Ro. iv. 1; ᾿Ιάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ ᾿Ιωάννην τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, Mt. iv. 21; Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνή, Mt. xxvii. 56, ete.; Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτιστῆς, Mt. iii. 1; Ἡρώδης ὃ τετράρχης, Lk. ix. 7; "Ingots ὁ λεγόμενος Χριστός, Mt. i. 16; Σαῦλος δὲ ὁ καὶ Παῦλος sc. καλούμενος, Acts xiii. 9; Σίμωνος τοῦ λεπροῦ, Mk. xiv. 3; Βαρτίμαιος ὁ τυφλός, Mk. χ. 40 [RG]; Ζαχαρίου τοῦ ἀπολομένου, Lk. xi.51. But there are excep. tions also to this usage: ὁ δὲ Ηρώδης ὁ τετράρχης, Lk. 111, 19; τὸν Σαούλ, υἱὸν Kis, Acts xiii. 21; in the opening of the Epistles: Παῦλος ἀπόστολος, Ro. i. 1; 1 Co. i. 1, ete. B. Proper names of countries and regions have the article far more frequently than those of cities and towns, for the reason that most names of countries, being derived from adjectives, get the force of substantives only by the addition of the article, as ἡ ᾿Αχαΐα (but ef. 2 Co.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

Ἀβραάμ (Abraam) — Abraham.

Ἀβραάμ (Heb. אַבְרָהָם), ὁ, indecl. (in FlJ, Ἄβραμος, -ου; MM, VGT, see word),

Abraham (Gen.17:5 al.): Mat.1:1, 2 al.

(From Abbott-Smith. LSJ has no entry)

Strong's Greek Dictionary

Ἀβραάμ

Abraam

of Hebrew origin (85); Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch:--Abraham. (In

Acts 7:16 the text should probably read Jacob.)

see HEBREW for 085

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

Ἀβραάμ, ὁ

Prop.n.

Abraham

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

Ἀβραάμ Abraam 73x

Abraham, pr. name indecl.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-PRI — Noun · proper name, indeclinable
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-PRI Indeclinable PRoper Noun

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a'-bra-ham:

I. NAME 1. Various Forms 2. Etymology 3. Association II. KINDRED III. CAREER 1. Period of Wandering 2. Period of Residence at Hebron 3. Period of Residence in the Negeb IV. CONDITIONS OF LIFE 1. Economic Conditions 2. Social Conditions 3. Political Conditions 4. Cultural Conditions V. CHARACTER 1. Religious Beliefs 2. Morality 3. Personal Traits VI. SIGNIFICANCE IN THE HISTORY OF RELIGION 1. In the Old Testament 2. In the New Testament 3. In Jewish Tradition 4. In the Koran VII. INTERPRETATIONS OF THE STORY OTHER THAN HISTORICAL 1. The Allegorical Interpretation 2. The Personification Theory 3. The Mythical Theory 4. The "Saga" Theory

I. Name.

1. Various Forms:

In the Old Testament, when applied, to the patriarch, the name appears as 'abhram, up to Ge 17:5; thereafter always as 'abhraham. Two other persons are named 'abhiram.…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Abraham

Father of a multitude, son of Terah, named (Gen. 11:27) before his older brothers Nahor and Haran, because he was the heir of the promises. Till the age of seventy, Abram sojourned among his kindred in his native country of Chaldea. He then, with his father and his family and household, quitted the city of Ur, in which he had hitherto dwelt, and went some 300 miles north to Haran, where he abode fifteen years. The cause of his migration was a call from God (Acts 7:2-4). There is no mention of this first call in the Old Testament; it is implied, however, in Gen. 12. While they tarried at Haran, Terah died at the age of 205 years. Abram now received a second and more definite call, accompanied by a promise from God (Gen.…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Father of a multitude, Ge 17:4,5; the great founder of the Jewish nation. He was a son of Terah, a descendant of Shem, and born in Ur, a city of Chaldea, A.M. 2008, B. C. 1996, Ge 11:27,28. Here he lived seventy years, when at the call of God he left his idolatrous kindred, and removed to Haran, in Mesopotamia, Ac 7:2-4, accompanied by his father, his wife Sarai, his brother Nahor, and his nephew Lot. A few years after, having buried his father, he again removed at the call of God, with his wife and nephew, and entered the land of promise as a nomad or wandering shepherd. Sojourning for a time at Shechem, he built here, as was his custom, an alter to the Lord, who appeared to him, and promised that land to his seed. Removing…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
97%abraham
abraham97% · 71×other renderings3% · 2×

73 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 3 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject30%predicate21%indirect object15%adverbial15%object12%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 73 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
τέκνονa child, descendἔχωI have, hold, poἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakπιστεύωI believe, have Article the
σπέρμαseed, offspring
αὐτόςὅτιthat, since, becεἰμίI am, exist
θεόςGod, a god
Article the
ἐγώ
πατήρfather, Father,
ἈβραάμAbraham73×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
ἸσαάκPropArticle theθεόςGod, a god
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, θεόςGod, a godΘάραProp
εἰμίI am, exist
ὅςκαίand, even, also,ἀλλάbut, except
λέγωI say, speak
γάρfor
ἀποθνῄσκωI am dying, am about
δέbut, on the otheκαίand, even, also,

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

ConcordanceἈβραάμ · 73× in the New Testament
Luke John Hebrews Galatians Romans Acts Matthew James 1 Peter 2 Corinthians Mark
Across the New Testament11 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 158 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch Josephus
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.9c. AD 40

οὐχ ὁρᾷς ὅτι ὁ Ἀβραὰμ „ἔτι ἦν ἑστηκὼς ἐνώπιον κυρίου καὶ ἐγγίσας εἶπε Μὴ συναπολέσῃς δίκαιον μετὰ ἀσεβοῦς“ (Gen.

JosephusThe Jewish War 5.380c. AD 75–95

τί οὖν ὁ ταύτης ἀνὴρ Ἁβραάμ, προπάτωρ δὲ ἡμέτερος;

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.8c. AD 100

Ἰδού, τάδε λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός: Εἰσέλθατε εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθήν, ἣν ὤμοσεν κύριος τῷ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ, καὶ κατακληρονομήσατε αὐτήν, γῆν ῥέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
4th c. AD 6th c. AD 5th c. AD 7th c. AD 8th c. AD
PSI 8 951AD 388

λαμπροτάτου ἡγεμόνος Φλαυίου Εὐτολμίου Ἀρσενίου … ᾐτιασάμην … τὸν δεῖνα καὶ Χίωνα Πετεσίριος καὶ Ἀβραὰμ βοηθ Σερήνου καὶ Ἱέρακα Ὥρου ὑπ … … … … … καὶ Εὐλόγιον Ὥρου

Pap. Congr. XXVI (Geneva 2010) p. 195Bir Shawish (Oasis Parva)AD 394–AD 395

Ἰωσὴφ Ἀβραὰμ χαίρειν. ἔσχον παρὰ σοῦ ὄρνεον α ᾠὰ ι η ἰνδικτίωνος.

Pap. Congr. XXVI (Geneva 2010) p. 195-196Bir Shawish (Oasis Parva)AD 376–AD 425

Ἱλαρὸς Ἀβραὰμ Ἰακῶβ γεωργῷ δεσποίνης χαίρειν. ἔσχον παρὰ σοῦ ὑπὲρ … ἰνδικτίωνος ἐρεοξύλου … … ι

[the] oath that He swore to Abraham the father of us,
τὸνho the G3588 Article · accusative · singular · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The definite article — the commonest word in the Greek New Testament at 19,867 occurrences. Greek uses it more freely than English does and can drop it deliberately, so its presence and its absence both carry weight for a translator; but no single occurrence carries a message of its own. Here it simply gathers “the things” into one definite bundle.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

the prepositive article (ἄρθρον προτακτικόν), originally a demonstr. pron. (so usually in Hom.), in general corresponding to the Eng. definite article.

As demonstr. pron.

As freq. in Hom., absol., he (she, it), his (etc.): Ac 17:28 (quoted from the poet Aratus).

Distributive, ὁ μὲν . . . ὁ δέ, the one . . . the other: I Co 7:7, Ga 4:22; pl., Ac 14:4, 17:32, Phl 1:16, al.; οἱ μὲν . . . ἄλλοι δέ, Mt 16:14, Jo 7:12; οἱ μεν̀ . . . ὁ δέ, He 7:21, 23.

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ὁ 435 ὁ tives of quantity, ὅλος, πᾶς, πολύς, see each in its own place. d. What has been said concerning adjectives holds true also of all other limitations added to substantives, as ἡ κατ᾽ ἐκλογὴν πρόθεσις, Ro. ix. 11; ἡ παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ διαθήκη, Ro. xi. 27; 6 λόγος 6 τοῦ σταυροῦ, 1 Co. i. 18; ἡ εἰς Χριστὸν πίστις, Col. ii. 5; on the other hand, ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν ἡ πρὸς τὸν θεόν, 1 Th. i. 8; τῆς διακονίας τῆς εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους, 2 Co. viii. 4; see many other exx. of each usage in W. 131 (124) sqq.; [B. 91 (80) sqq.]. e. The noun has the article before it when a demonstrative pronoun (υὗτος, ἐκεῖνος) belonging to it either precedes or follows [W. § 18, 4; B. § 127, 29-31]; as, ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὗτος, Jn. ix. 24 [οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρ. 1, Tr mrg. WH); Acts vi. 13; xxii. 26; ὁ λαὸς οὗτος, Mt. xv. 8; 6 vids σου οὗτος, Lk. xv. 30; plur. Lk. xxiv. 17, and numberless other exx.; οὗτος 6 ἄνθρωπος, Lk. xiv. 30; οὗτος ὁ…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ὃ, ἡ τό. (1) Apart from connexion with μέν or δέ (see below) the demonstrative use of the art. in the NT is confined to a poetical quotation Ac 1778, but it is not uncommon in the papyri, e.g. P Par 45® (B.C. 153) (= Witkowski®, p. 85) τὰ (for ἃ) πράσεις (Δ πράσσεις), P Oxy VIII. 1160! (iii/iv A.D.) Ta (for ἃ) σεσύλληχα (for συνείληχα) δὲ κέρμα {ταν τηρῶ αὐτὰ εἰς τὴν δίκην, “1 am keeping for the trial the money that I have collected” (Ed.). For the distributive Opéev.. - 6 8€, as in 1 Cor7’, cf. P Lond 535 (B.c. 161) (=I. p. 19, U.P.Z. i. p. 239) kal τὰ μὲν ἡμῶν ἐληφότων εἰς τὴν γινομένην ἡμῖν συντάξειν, τὰ δ᾽ ἔτι διὰ τὴν τῶν ὑποτεταγμένων {(.. ... > παρελκομένων. (2) The use of the art. as a relative, of which there is no trace in the NT, may again be illustrated by the following papyrus citations from ¢c. A.D. 346—P Lond 414® (= II. Ῥ. 292) γεινῴσκιν oe θέλω περὶ τοῦ βρεουίου…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

__C in Epic dialect, the so-called postpositive Article, = relative Pronoun, ὅς, ἥ, ὅ.—The nominative masculine and feminine singular and plural, ὁ, ἡ, οἱ, αἱ, have no accent in codices and most printed books, except when used as the relative; but ὁ, ἡ, οἱ, αἱ differ only in writing from ὃ, ἣ, οἳ, α; the nominative forms of the article are said by Hdn.Gr.1.474 to be oxytone, and by [Refs 2nd c.AD+] in Aeolic dialect accusative to [Refs 8th c.BC+] genitive and dative dual τοῖιν [Refs 8th c.BC+]— In Doric dialect and all other dialects except Attic dialect and Ionic dialect the feminine forms preserve the old ᾱ instead of changing it to η, hence Doric dialect etc. ἁ, τάν, τᾶ; the genitive plural τάων contracts in many dialects to τᾶ; the genitive…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be

supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one,

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

the prepositive article, answering, to a considerable extent, to the English definite article; but, for the principle and facts of its usage, consult a grammar; ὁ μὲν ... ὁ δέ, the one ... the other, Phil. 1:16, 17; Heb. 7:5, 6, 20, 21, 23, 24; pl. some ... others, Mt. 13:23; 22:5, 6; ὁ δέ, but he, Mt. 4:4; 12:48; οἱ δέ, but others, Mt. 28:17; used, in a poetic quotation, for a personal pronoun, Acts 17:28

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

in epic, the relative Pronoun, when it is written with the accent ὅ, ἥ, τό ῀ ὅς, ἥ, ὅ. Besides the common forms, note epic gen. sg. τοῖο for τοῦ; pl. nom. τοί, ταί; gen. fem. τάων [α^], dat. τοῖσι, τῇς and τῇσι; dual gen, and dat. τοῖιν:— in Trag. we find τοὶ μέν . . , τοὶ δέ . . , for οἱ μέν . . , οἱ δέ . . ; dat. pl. also τοῖσι, ταῖσι: the dual has commonly but one gender, τώ for τά, τοῖν for ταῖν.

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

joined with a Subst., not as the Art., but like Lat. ille, ὁ Τυδείδης Tydeus's famous son, Il.; Νέστωρ ὁ γέρων Nestor— that aged man, id. Il.; τιμῆς τῆς Πριάμου for honour, namely that of Priam, id. Il.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Art-ASM — Article · accusative · singular · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-ASM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

English usagewhat the translators’ English meant
Webster's Dictionary (1828), Webster's Unabridged (1913), Webster's Dictionary (1806)

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

1. This adjective is used as a definitive, that is, before nouns which are specific or understood; or it is used to limit their signification to a specific thing or things, or to describe them; as the laws of the twelve tables. the independent tribunals of justice in our country, are the security or private rights, and the best bulwark against arbitrary power. the sun is the source of light and heat.

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

2. the is also used rhetorically before a noun in the singular number, to denote a species by way of distinction; a single thing representing the whole. the fig tree putteth forth her green figs; the almond tree shall flourish; the grasshopper shall be a burden.

3. In poetry, the sometimes loses the final vowel before another vowel.

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
64%the
the64% · 13160×<the>28% · 5846×those3% · 597×other renderings4% · 788×other renderings1% · 294×

20,685 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 83 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject34%adverbial32%object24%predicate5%indirect object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 19,783 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
the19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordance · 19,783× in the New Testament
Matthew Acts Luke John Revelation Mark Romans 1 Corinthians Hebrews 2 Corinthians Ephesians 1 John

40 inflected forms — one of the commonest words in the New Testament. Full distribution →

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 1c. AD 40

Τῶν ἄλλων νομοθετῶν οἱ μὲν ἀκαλλώπιστα καὶ γυμνὰ τὰ νομισθέντα παρ’ αὐτοῖς εἶναι δίκαια διετάξαντο, οἱ δὲ πολὺν ὄγκον τοῖς νοήμασι προσπεριβαλόντες ἐξετύφωσαν τὰ πλήθη μυθικοῖς πλάσμασι τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐπικρύψαντες.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.argc. AD 75–95

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.1c. AD 100

Χαίρετε, υἱοὶ καὶ θυγατέρες, ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος ἡμᾶς, ἐν εἰρήνῃ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. BC 6th c. AD
P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

r βασιλεύοντος Πτολεμαίου τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεῶν Φιλομητόρων ἔτους ιε, ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

ιζ Θῶυθ κη ἀπέδοτο Πετεσοῦχος Φίβιος καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τὸ ὕπαρχον αὐτοῖς ἥμισυ περιστερῶνος τοῦ ὄντος ἐν τῶι ἀπὸ βορρᾶ μέρει Παθύρεως χαλκοῦ Γ. ἐπρίατο Ὧρος Νεχούτου.

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

βασιλευόντων Πτολεμαίου τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεῶν φιλομητόρων ἔτους ιϛ, ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν

[the] oath that He swore to Abraham the father of us,
πατέραpatēr father G3962 Noun · accusative · singular · masculine
413× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A father is a male parent, like Joseph, the father of Jesus, as mentioned in Matthew 2:22 and Luke 1:17. It can also refer to a forefather or ancestor, like Abraham, as seen in Matthew 3:9 and John 8:39.
Amplified meaning
ancestral patriarch
Tyndale gloss
father
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πατήρ (patēr) means 'father' and can refer to a male parent, an ancestor, or even a metaphorical originator. It appears frequently in the New Testament, often in relation to God as the Father of believers, as well as in the context of respect for elders or teachers. The term can also denote a broader familial or ancestral connection, as seen in references to forefathers.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πατήρ, πατρός, -τρί, τέρα,

[in LXX chiefly and very freq. for אָב;]

a father;

prop.,

of the male parent: Mt 2:22, Lk 1:17, Jo 4:53; anarth., He 12:7 (M, Pr., 82 f.); pl., of both parents (cl.), He 11:23; οἱ π. τ. σαρκός, He 12:9;

of a forefather or ancestor (in cl. usually in pl.; Hom., al.): Mt 3:9, Lk 1:73, Jo 8:39, al.; pl., Mt 23:30, 32, Lk 6:23, 26, Jo 4:20,

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

πατήρ [fr. τ. pa; lit. nourisher, protector, upholder ; (Curtius § 348)], πατρός, -rpl, -τέρα, voc. πάτερ [for which the nom. 6 πατήρ is five times used, and (anarthrous) πατήρ in Jn. xvii. 21 T Tr WH, 24 and 25 LT Tr WH; ef. B. § 129,5; W.§ 29,2; WH. App. p. 158], plur. πατέρες, πατέρων, πατράσι (Heb. i.1), πατέρας, 6,[fr. Hom. down], Sept. for 38, a father; 1. prop., i. q. generator or male ancestor, and either a. the nearest ancestor: Mt. ii. 22; iv. 21 sq.; viii. 21; Lk.i.17; Jn. iv.53; Acts vii. 143 1 Co. v. 1, etc.; of πατέρες τῆς σαρκός, fathers of the corporeal nature, natural fathers, (opp. to ὁ πατὴρ τῶν πνευμάτων), Heb. xii. 9; plur. of both parents, Heb. xi. 23 (not infreq. in prof. auth., ef. Delitzsch ad loc.); or Ὄ. a more remote ancestor, the founder of α race or tribe, progenitor of a people, forefather: 80 Abraham is called, Mt. iii. 9; Lk. i. 73; xvi. 24; Jn. viii.…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

πατήρ. For the looser use οἵ πατήρ as a title or respect or honour, see P Oxy X. 1296 (iii/A.D.), where the writer

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πατήρ (patēr) — father.

πᾰτήρ, ὁ,

genitive and dative πατέρος, πατέρι in Epic dialect and Lyric poetry, Attic dialect πατρός, πατρί (which is also the commoner form in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; accusative always πατέρ; vocative πάτερ: plural πατέρες, πατέρας, πατέρων (πατρῶν only [Refs 8th c.BC+]; dative πατράσι [ᾰ] (cf. Sanskrit locative plural pitṛ[snull]u, no dative plural occurs in [Refs 8th c.BC+], late Epic dialect πατέρεσσι [Refs 4th c.AD+]:— father, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; πατρὸς πατήρ grandfather,[Refs 8th c.BC+]; τὰ πρὸς πατρός by the father's side, [Refs 5th c.BC+], etc.; especially of God, the father of the Israelites, [LXX]; father of men, [NT]; father of Jesus Christ, [Refs]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πατήρ

pater

apparently a primary word; a "father" (literally or figuratively, near

or more remote):--father, parent.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πατήρ, πατρός, ὁ

n.m.

father, Father, ancestor

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πατήρ acc. always πατέρα gen. pl. rarely πατρῶν a father, Hom., etc.; πατρὸς πατήρ a grandfather, Il.; τὰ πρὸς πατρός ῀ πατρόθεν, by the father's side, Hdt.

among the gods Zeus is called πατήρ, πατὴρ Ζεύς, π. ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε Hom., Hes.; so Ζεὺς π. Aesch.; Ζεῦ πάτερ καὶ θεοί Ar.

a respectful mode of addressing elderly persons, Od.

metaph. the father of anything, Lat. auctor, π. ἀοιδᾶν Pind., etc.

in pl. fathers, i.e. forefathers, Hom.; ἐξ ἔτι πατρῶν as an inheritance from one's fathers, Od.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-ASM — Noun · accusative · singular · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-ASM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fa'-ther (Anglo-Saxon, Foeder; German, Vater; Hebrew 'abh, etymology uncertain, found in many cognate languages; Greek pater, from root pa, "nourisher," "protector," "upholder"):

1. Immediate Male Ancestor:

Immediate male ancestor. The father in the Hebrew family, as in the Roman, had supreme rights over his children, could dispose of his daughter in marriage (Ge 29), arrange his son's marriage (Ge 24), sell his children (Ex 21:7), but not his daughter to a stranger (Ne 5:5), had power of life and death, as in the case of Isaac (Ge 22), Jephthah's daughter (Jud 11:34), the sacrificing of his children to Molech (Le 18:21; 20:3-5), etc. Respect, reverence and affection for…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Father

A name applied (1) to any ancestor (Deut. 1:11; 1 Kings 15:11; Matt. 3:9; 23:30, etc.); and (2) as a title of respect to a chief, ruler, or elder, etc. (Judg. 17:10; 18:19; 1 Sam. 10:12; 2 Kings 2:12; Matt. 23:9, etc.). (3) The author or beginner of anything is also so called; e.g., Jabal and Jubal (Gen. 4:20, 21; comp. Job 38:28).

Smith's Bible Dictionary

The position and authority of the father as the head of the family are expressly assumed and sanctioned in Scripture, as a likeness of that of the Almighty over his creatures. It lies of course at the root of that so-called patriarchal government, (Genesis 3:16; 1 Corinthians 11:3) which was introductory to the more definite systems which followed, and which in part, but not wholly, superseded it. The father’s blessing was regarded as conferring special benefit, but his malediction special injury, on those on whom it fell, (Genesis 9:25,27; 27:27-40; 48:15,20; 49:1) ... and so also the sin of a parent was held to affect, in certain cases, the welfare of his descendants. (2 Kings…

Is often synonymous with ancestor, founder, or originator, as Ge 4:20-21 Joh 8:56 Ro 4:16. Joseph was a father to Pharoah, Ge 45:8, as his counselor and provider. God is the FATHER of men, as their Creator, De 32:6 Isa 63:16 64:8 Lu 3:38. But as we have forfeited the rights of children by our sins, it is only through Christ that we can call God by that endearing name, "our Father," Joh 20:17 Ro 8:15-17.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
86%father
father86% · 359×fathers12% · 51×other renderings2% · 9×

419 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 8 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject32%adverbial26%object21%predicate7%indirect object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 413 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
καίand, even, also,πρόςἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
θεόςGod, a godθάνατοςdeathἀδελφόςa brother
θεόςGod, a god
ἀπόArticle theἐν
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,προσεύχομαιI pray, pray forἸησοῦςJesus
σύ
ἐξομολογέωI consent fully,γράφωI writeπροσεύχομαιI pray, pray for
πατήρfather413×
what comes after →
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,Article theἐν
σύ
Article theκαίand, even, also,λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theκύριοςlord, Lord, mastΧριστόςanointed, the Me
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,Article theμετά
Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, mastπαιδίονa little child, πέμπωI send

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceπατήρ · 413× in the New Testament
John Matthew Luke Acts Mark Romans 1 John Ephesians Hebrews 1 Corinthians 1 Thessalonians 2 Corinthians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 615 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 7c. AD 40

Τινὲς γὰρ τὸν κόσμον μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν κοσμοποιὸν θαυμάσαντες τὸν μὲν ἀγένητόν τε καὶ ἀίδιον ἀπεφήναντο, τοῦ δὲ θεοῦ πολλὴν ἀπραξίαν ἀνάγνως κατεψεύσαντο, δέον ἔμπαλιν τοῦ μὲν τὰς δυνάμεις ὡς ποιητοῦ καὶ πατρὸς καταπλαγῆναι, τὸν δὲ μὴ πλέον ἀποσεμνῦναι…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.20c. AD 75–95

οὔτε γὰρ αὐτῷ ποτʼ ἂν γενέσθαι νοῦν ἀγαθὸν τῷ νομοθέτῃ ταύτης ἀπολειπομένῳ τῆς θέας, οὔτε τῶν γραφησομένων εἰς ἀρετῆς λόγον οὐδὲν ἀποβήσεσθαι τοῖς λαβοῦσιν, εἰ μὴ πρὸ παντὸς ἄλλου διδαχθεῖεν, ὅτι πάντων πατήρ τε καὶ δεσπότης ὁ θεὸς ὢν καὶ πάντα…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.7c. AD 100

λέγει δὲ πάλιν πρὸς αὐτούς: Μὴ ἐγὼ ἐνετειλάμην τοῖς πατράσιν ὑμῶν ἐκπορευομένοις ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, προσενέγκαι μοι ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ θυσίας;

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 6th c. AD 1st c. AD
P.Grenf. 2 31Pathyris105 BC

τὸ ἐπιβάλλον αὐτῷ μέρος δανείου οὗ ἔθετο Πατοῦς Ὥρου ὁ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ Ταρεήσιος πατὴρ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐν Κροκοδίλων πόλει ἀρχείου χαλκοῦ δραχμὰς Ε καὶ τοὺς τούτων τόκους· ὃς

P.Grenf. 2 26Pathyris104 BC

Φαγώνι, τοῖς δ τοῦ Πανοβχούνιος τοῦ Ταρεήσιος τῆς Πατοῦτος τῆς Παοῦτος μητρὸς τοῦ προγεγραμμένου πατρὸς Ὥρου, ἀπέχειν καὶ μὴ ἐπικαλεῖν περὶ ὀφειλήματος συναλλαγμάτων Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Ἑλληνικῶν ἃ ἐξέτεισε Παοῦς

P.Adl. 20Poinkoris (Diopolites)99 BC

Ψενμεγχείους ὡς ἐτῶν λε μέσου … πάντες τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Παθυρίτου τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν τῶι πατρὶ τοῦ Ὥρου γῆν ἀρουρῶν … ἐν τῶι ἄνω πεδίωι Κροκοδίλων πόλεως ἀπὸ σφραγῖδος μιᾶς

[the] oath that He swore to Abraham the father of us,
ἡμῶν, of us, G3165
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐγώ, gen, etc., ἐμοῦ, ἐμοί, ἐμέ (enclitic μου, μοι, με), pl. ἡμεῖς, -ῶν, -ῖν, -ᾶς,

pers. pron.

I.

The nom. is usually emphatic, when expressed as subjc, as in Mt 3:11, Mk 1:8, Lk 3:16, al. But often there is no apparent emphasis, as Mt 10:16, Jo 10:17; ἰδοὺ ἐ. (= Heb. הִנֵּנִי, cf. I Ki 3:8), Ac 9:10; ἐ. (like Heb. אֲנִי), I am, Jo 1:23 (LXX), Ac 7:32 (LXX).

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ἐγώ, gen. ἐμοῦ, enclitic pod; dat. ἐμοί, enclitic μοί; acc. ἐμέ, enclitic μέ; plur. ἡμεῖς, ete.; personal pronoun, J. 1. The nominatives ἐγώ and ἡμεῖς, when joined to a verb, generally have force and emphasis, or indicate antithesis, as Mt. iii. 11; Mk.i. 8; Lk. iii. 16 (ἐγὼ pev... ὁ δέ); Mt. iii. 14 (ἐγὼ... ἔχω, καὶ σύν ; V. 22, 28, 39, and often; ἡμεῖς, contrasted with God, Mt. vi. 12; ἡμεῖς x. of Φαρισαῖοι, Mt. ix. 14; cf. W. § 22,6. But sometimes they are used where there is no emphasis or antithesis in them, as Mt. x. 16; Jn. x. 17; and in many edd. in Mk. i. 2; Lk. vii. 27; οἵ. B. §129, 12. ἰδοὺ ἐγώ, 1397, behold me, hereamT: Acts ix.10 (1S. iii. 8). ἐγώ, like 38, Jam: Jn. i. 23; Acts vii. 32, [ef. W.585 (544); B. 125 (109)]. 2. The enclitic (and monosyllabic) gen., dat., and ace. are connected with nouns, verbs, adverbs, but not with prepositions: ἔμπροσθέν pov, Jn. i. 15; ὀπίσω…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ἐγώ. Deissmann (ZAZ p. 134 ff.) has drawn attention to the parallels to the solemn use of the first personal pronoun in the Fourth Gospel that may be adduced from inscriptions and magical texts. Thus in an inscr. in honour of Isis from Ios, written in ii/iii A.p., the contents of which are preChristian, we find —Elows ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ τ[ύρανν]ος πάσης χόρας.. ἐγὼ νόμους ἀνθρώποις ἐθέμην . . ἐγώ εἰμι Kpdvov θυγάτηρ πρεσβυτάτη α΄. And similarly in the magical papyrus P Lond 4645 (iv/a.p.) (=I. p. 69) ἐγώ εἰμι ὃ ἀκέφαλος δαίμων . . ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἀλήθεια ὁ μεισῶν ἀδικήματα γείνεσθαι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ α΄. With the construction of the phrase τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί ; in Jn 24 we may compare BGU IV. 1141°8 (n.c. 14) ἐδίδουν αὐτῷ διαστολὰς μηδὲν αὐτῶι καὶ ἐκείνωι εἶναι : for its meaning see Ε΄. C. Burkitt in 77:5 xiii. p- 594f., where it is rendered, ‘‘ What have I and thou to do with that ?” On the difficult…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μέ (me) — me.

ἐγώ,

I: pronoun of the first person:—Epic dialect mostly ἐγών before vowels (so in Doric dialect, before consonants, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect ἱών [Refs 2nd c.AD+]:— strengthened ἔγωγε, I at least, for my part, indeed, for myself (more frequently in Attic dialect than in [Refs 8th c.BC+]: Doric dialect ἐγώνγα [Refs 7th c.BC+]: Boeotian dialect ἱώνγα [Refs 6th c.BC+]; ἱώνει [Refs]; ἰώγα [Refs 5th c.BC+]: Laconian dialect and Tarentum dialect ἐγώνη, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

II. oblique cases from a different root, genitive ἐμοῦ, enclitic μο; Ionic dialect and Epic dialect ἐμέο, ἐμεῦ, μευ, also ἐμέθεν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Aeolic dialect ἔμεθεν [Refs 7th c.BC+]; Doric dialect ἐμέος, ἐμεῦς, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect ἐμοῦς [Refs 6th c.BC+] — _dative_ ἐμοί, enclitic μοι (which may be compared with Sanskrit…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐγώ

me

a shorter (and probably originally) from of 1691; me:--I, me, my.

see GREEK for 1691

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐγώ egō 2x

I, gen., ἐμοῦ [μου], dat., ἐμοί [μοι], acc., ἐμέ [με]

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
English usagewhat the translators’ English meant
Webster's Dictionary (1828), Webster's Unabridged (1913), Webster's Dictionary (1806)

US, pronoun objective case of we.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Us , pron. [OE. us, AS. s; akin to OFries. & OS. s, D. ons, G. uns, Icel. & Sw. oss, Dan. os, Goth. uns, L. nos we, us, Gr. we, Skr. nas us. . Cf. Nostrum, Our.] The persons speaking, regarded as an object; ourselves; — the objective case of we. See We. “Tell us a tale.” Chaucer.

Give us this day our daily bread. Matt. vi. 11.

Us, pron. oblique case of we

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
35%us
us35% · 717×me32% · 644×mine20% · 402×we ourselves6% · 124×my2% · 45×other renderings5% · 97×

2,029 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 27 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

Sources on this page. Lexicons and dictionaries imported from the CrossWire SWORD modules — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, Dodson, the Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones, Robinson and Packard, Webster and Cawdrey. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Harper, 1889 — Grimm’s Wilke’s Clavis Novi Testamenti, translated, revised and enlarged by Joseph Henry Thayer) is public domain and is set here from the Internet Archive page scan greekenglishlex00grim; it is uncorrected OCR, marked as such on the entry itself, and the Strong’s numbers — which Thayer’s own edition does not carry — were matched by lemma against the other modules on this page. Trench’s Synonyms of the New Testament (Macmillan, 1880) and Moulton and Milligan’s Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (Hodder & Stoughton, 1930, which entered the United States public domain on 1 January 2026) are set from Internet Archive page scans synonymsofnewtes00treniala and vocabularyofgree00mouluoft, and are likewise uncorrected OCR matched to Strong’s numbers by lemma. Trench treats a group of words at once, so the same essay stands on the page of each word it compares. The Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary is © 1993 and is used here by permission for non-commercial use, www.teknia.com/greek-dictionary. The full Liddell-Scott-Jones and the Hebrew word data (TAHOT) come from STEPBible.org, CC BY 4.0. Brown-Driver-Briggs is the OpenScriptures digitisation, public domain. Syntax analysis is the Nestle 1904 Lowfat treebank (biblicalhumanities.org); the concordance and morphology are built from the tagged Nestle 1904 text. Septuagint occurrences use the Open Scriptures Septuagint lemma index, derived from CCAT (University of Pennsylvania) and the Rahlfs 1935 dataset by Eliran Wong, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — used here on a non-commercial ministry site. Greek of Josephus and Barnabas from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0. Commentaries and the Ante-Nicene Fathers are public-domain texts hosted on this site. Everyday Greek from the Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri, CC BY 3.0, with dates and provenance from the Heidelberger Gesamtverzeichnis. Philo and the Apostolic Fathers from Open Greek and Latin (First1KGreek), CC BY-SA 4.0. The apparatus and the fifth Greek column are the SBL Greek New Testament, © 2010 SBL and Logos Bible Software, CC BY 4.0. The Latin is the Clementine Vulgate (public domain); the Syriac New Testament is the ETCBC edition (MIT licence). The Hebrew behind the Greek is computed here from the Septuagint index and TAHOT, not taken from any aligned edition. The translation spread and the per-word edition marks come from the Translators Amalgamated Greek NT (STEPBible, CC BY 4.0); clause roles from the Nestle 1904 Lowfat treebank (CC BY-SA 4.0); place identifications and their confidence from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding (CC BY 4.0), with map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Gospel parallels are computed here from shared uncommon vocabulary, not taken from any printed harmony. Cross references are the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and the subject headings are Nave’s Topical Bible, both public domain. Works under Creative Commons licences are used unchanged apart from markup removal.

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